Braised cabbage is a hearty, simple and low-calorie dish. It is good both as a side dish for meat or fish, and as a component of a vegetable mixture. Braised cabbage, especially when combined with onions and boiled eggs, is an excellent filling for pies. But even when preparing such an unpretentious dish, there are some subtleties, the observance of which will allow not only to make the stewed cabbage very tasty, but also to preserve its useful properties as much as possible.
You can stew both fresh and sauerkraut. In the first case, first remove the top leaves of the head, they are considered the toughest. Then rinse the head of cabbage in cold running water, remove the stump, cut the cabbage in half and chop it into thin strips or small "checkers". Finely chopped cabbage does not require long heat treatment, which will preserve most of the vitamins, especially vitamin C.
Heat a small amount of vegetable or olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or skillet with high sides, fry the onion, cut into thin half rings until golden brown, then add the shredded cabbage, stirring it with a spoon or spatula. When the cabbage yields juice and settles slightly, salt it to taste, add spices, mix again and pour boiling water so that it reaches about the middle of the cabbage layer. Which spices to add and in what quantity, each culinary specialist decides on his own, based on his own preferences.
For example, in Russian cuisine, as a rule, they are limited to ground black pepper, and in the Czech Republic and Germany they like to cook stewed cabbage with the addition of caraway seeds, which gives the product a characteristic delicate aftertaste.
Reduce heat to low and simmer cabbage, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender. Before cooking is finished, remove the sample, add more salt and spices if necessary.
When stewing cabbage, some cooks add fried tomato paste or fried fresh tomatoes to it. It's a matter of taste.
If you want to stew sauerkraut, take a sample first. In the event that the cabbage is too sour, it is better to rinse it in cold water first. But it should be borne in mind that with such soaking, a lot of vitamin C will be lost.
Therefore, it is better to choose cabbage of optimal acidity for stewing or to balance the sour taste during cooking by adding granulated sugar.
If the sauerkraut is fermented in large pieces, they should be finely chopped. Squeeze out excess liquid from the product and cook as described above. Take a sample shortly before cooking and, if necessary, add 1-2 teaspoons of sugar to the stewed cabbage.
You can stew cabbage with sausage. To do this, fry the onions and grated carrots. After about two minutes, add cabbage to the vegetables. Pour in a glass of boiling water, mix the ingredients. Simmer until tender.
You can even cook stewed cabbage in the oven. To do this, cut the cabbage, fry in vegetable oil. Do the same with onions, carrots and mushrooms. Place all vegetables in a cauldron, salt, add tomato paste diluted with water and boiling water. Place the dish in an oven preheated to 200 ° C. If necessary, add more boiling water during cooking. If you want the dish to have a peculiar aftertaste, add 1 tablespoon of flour dried in a pan a few minutes before the end of stewing.
